I did not want to argue. I could not let my father try to build an argument against my decision. He was a lawyer, a very talented lawyer, and I knew the longer I let him talk, the more sense he would start making.
"Father, I'm sorry. I know I have the aptitude for it, but not the heart. Maybe someday, but that will be my decision. This is my decision. I'm quitting the nursing program. I'm leaving UCLA," I said.
"Of all the harebrained, impulsiv
e things to call out of the blue and say." My father held the phone away from his mouth and shouted for my mother. "Your sister would never have done anything like this."
"Exactly," I said. "I'm sorry, but I wanted you to know right away. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I will find a job and start paying back the student loans."
"And how do you think that's going to happen? Have you thought about-"
"Did you just hang up on your father?" Owen asked.
"Why do you think I'm turning my phone off?"
"How do you feel?" he asked.
Owen had not moved an inch. He still sat on the edge of the bed, his feet planted squarely on the ground. I stood between his legs and smiled.
"I feel like I just woke up. Like I've been asleep and having one of those stress dreams when all the clocks are moving too fast or your teeth are falling out. And now, I'm awake, and I know for certain that everything is just fine. I'm fine," I said.
"I think you're better than fine," Owen said. He wrapped his arms around my waist and smiled up at me. "And here I thought Sleeping Beauty needed a kiss to break the spell."
"Maybe it was your kiss," I said. I leaned down and tasted his lips again. "Hmm, I'm not sure. Maybe I should try again."
Owen chuckled and pulled me onto the bed next to him. I pushed myself into the center of the king-sized bed and stretched out. He rolled next to me and traced his fingers from my cheek, down my neck, and all the way down my arm. Our fingers interlaced and he brought our hands to his lips.
"Maybe I'm the one that's waking up," he said. "Sometimes it feels like that when I'm with you. Like I was sleepwalking through someone else's life, except when I was with you."
I reached up and kissed him, a long, savoring kiss, before I lay back down and smiled. "Now, how do you feel?"
Owen lowered his head and murmured against another kiss, "I hope you feel the same way I do."
He slipped over my body and pressed us down into the soft duvet. His hips ground slow, stirring friction against mine, and I could not help but arch to meet him. Even my nipples reached taut through my shirt to brush against the hard contours of his chest. Each gentle thrust and press rubbed an exquisite pleasure from them.
I pulled my shirt up over my head, then tugged Owen's up the muscular ridges of his back. When our bare skin met, I let out a groan of pleasure that ended in a deep chuckle. He caught it in another deep kiss that left me panting.
"How do you feel?" I asked.
"I can't get enough of you. I need more. Please more," Owen said.
He fumbled with the buttons on my jeans as I lapped at his neck. I tried my teeth against the soft tug of his earlobe, and Owen collapsed over me. The fact that the delicate touch of my tongue against the curve of his ear caused his whole strong body to shudder with pleasure stoked a fire in me I had never felt before.
"Roll over," I said.
Owen complied, undoing his jeans as he positioned himself against the pillows of the king-sized bed. I slipped my jeans off and straddled him, watching his eyes close in ecstasy as I rocked against him. The power made me throb as I teased us both until we shivered with delight.
One last rocking rub against his body and Owen sat up. He buried one hand in my hair and the other arm tight around my waist. Our kiss was more than desire, more than hunger, it was drawing breath from each other as we were consumed.
He rolled me beneath him, and I felt the deep contentment of him inside me. We fit together tight, hard, and locked as a whole. When he moved, my body answered, and together, we pulsed higher and higher.
In the blissful stillness that followed, I had an epiphany. "Now I know," I accidentally said out loud.
"Know what? I don't think I even know my name right now," Owen said.
"Maybe I'll tell you someday," I said. I did not want to say another word and break the peace we had together.
Now I knew what it felt like when something was right, and I was never going to accept anything else.